Tweeting Goes Primetime

Last Monday, CBS announced it purchased the rights to the Twitter account known as “sh*tmydadsays.”

Now people are wondering: How did a 29-year-old man living in his dad’s basement capture the attention of a major television station? The answer can be found between the laughs. Justin Halpern’s tweets are humorous, witty, inappropriate – and relatable. But more importantly, they are statements said by his 73-year-old dad. For example:

Sitcoms succeed when they take real life situations, add exaggeration, and hire professional, “funny” people to reenact it. So with it’s off-the-cuff, genuine nature, social media is a fitting content generator for broadcasting companies to note.

And “Sh*tmydadsays” isn’t the only social media forum turned sitcom. “Texts From Last Night,” a popular site where people submit drunken, foot-in-mouth text messages from the night before, was picked up by Fox in September. These two success stories could preview a significant trend for how broadcasting companies or movie producers search for the next big hit.